START-Ivry sets out to redefine housing culture. It rejects the prevailing standardisation of housing production and responds to the growing diversity of contemporary lifestyles. It rethinks housing from the inside — starting from the resident and restoring the central role of the floor plan. START embodies a genuine paradigm shift.
Located on the banks of the Seine in Ivry-sur-Seine, Greater Paris, START-Ivry comprises 5 residential towers containing 288 dwellings (social, intermediate and market-rate housing), arranged around a network of public spaces and terraces on the banks of the Seine. Together, they create a new urban skyline between the Seine, the Marne and the industrial landscapes of Ivry-sur-Seine, offering a wide variety of architectural settings, public spaces, terraces, routes and viewpoints within a single location.
START stands for Social, Transformable, Affordable and Resilient Typologies — housing solutions that respond to contemporary life. Located in a city historically linked to architectural innovation, START paves the way for a new cycle of experimentation in housing.
The geometry of the volumes, the rhythm of the windows, and the colour accents — all central to START’s identity — originate from its internal world. Here, the richness within shapes the exterior, not the reverse. The result is a vibrant architecture in which form, use, and meaning are inseparable — an architecture that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Housing quality determines the depth of the volumes. Exceptionally slender — just 14 metres deep for buildings rising up to 56 metres — they maximise typological variety, natural light, ventilation, and views. Ninety percent of homes enjoy double or triple orientations, and most benefit from views of the Seine or the Marne. Each tower is structured into three distinct parts, offering three different readings: street, city, and sky, while a turquoise “band” of shared spaces at the seventh floor introduces a horizontal rhythm into the verticality.
The façades follow no rigid grid: windows, balconies, ‘plugs’, and loggias are placed to serve domestic use, from storage to adaptability. What might appear as “disorder” becomes the architectural expression of life, mirroring that of its inhabitants — at times controlled, at times unpredictable.
Colour accents act as an architectural code, with a palette revealing interior functions: from typology-coded doors to window jambs coloured according to the function behind them. The main façade treatments — raw concrete and red paint — echo the architectural history of Ivry, particularly its emblematic concrete and brick buildings, and give START-Ivry a strong and immediately recognisable visual identity.
Accessibility
Located on the banks of the Seine in Ivry-sur-Seine, directly adjacent to Paris (approx. 20–25 minutes from Châtelet), approximately 20 minutes by car from Paris-Orly Airport and well connected to the city’s major railway stations and international transport hubs. The project offers multiple exterior shooting environments, including riverside settings, public spaces, urban streetscapes and panoramic views. Several access points allow straightforward logistical coordination for productions.
The project offers a wide variety of architectural settings and viewpoints within a single location directly adjacent to Paris.
Address
56 Quai Auguste Deshaies
94200 Ivry-sur-Seine, Greater Paris, France
Nearest public transport
• Metro Line 8 – Liberté (closest station)
• Tram T9 – La Briqueterie
• RER C – Ivry-sur-Seine
• Metro Line 7 – Mairie d’Ivry
• Several bus connections
Travel times
• Paris city centre (Châtelet): approximately 20–25 minutes
• Gare de Lyon: approximately 15–20 minutes
• Gare du Nord: approximately 25–35 minutes
• Paris-Orly Airport: approximately 20 minutes by car
• Charles de Gaulle Airport: approximately 40–50 minutes by car
• La Défense: approximately 35–45 minutes by public transport
Access
• Direct car access via Quai Auguste Deshaies
• Public transport connections via metro, tram and RER
• Taxi and ride-sharing services readily available
Parking Possibilities
• Public parking available at Quais d’Ivry Car Park (12-minute walk)
• Additional on-street parking available in the surrounding area
• Multiple access points for equipment and crew logistics
Direct coordination with architect author
• Direct communication with the architect author STAR strategies + architecture
• Communication in English, French, and Spanish. Also possible in Dutch, German, and Greek.
Possibility of location visit prior to filming
• Site visit can be arranged upon request
Selected Awards
►WINNER in German Design Awards 2025 in the “Residential Architecture” category, German Design Council, Germany, October 2025
►SPECIAL MENTION in the Architizer A+ Awards in the “Affordable Housing” category, Architizer, United States, May 2025
►WINNER of both Jury’s and People’s Choice Awards in the AZ Awards in the “Urban Design - Built developments” category, AZURE magazine, Canada, June 2025
►GOLD CUBE WINNER in the 105th edition of ADC Annual Awards, in the “Design for Good” category, ADC Art Directors Club Awards – The One Club for Creativity, United States, April 2026
►Finalist in iF Awards in the “Residential Architecture” category, iF Awards, Germany, December 2025
►WINNER of the Prize Femmes d’Architecture in the category « Œuvre original », ARVHA - Association for Research about City and Housing, France, November 2024
►Finalist in Archello Awards in the “Housing Project of the Year - High Rise Tower” category, Archello, The Netherlands, November 2025
►Finalist in the MIX Awards, in the “Fast Forward” category, MIX Interiors, United Kingdom, May 2026 (ongoing)
►WINNER in the Pineapples Awards, in the “Strategy” category, The Developer, United Kingdom, April 2026
►WINNER in the BLT Built Design Awards in the category “Architectural Design - Social Housing”, 3C Group / 3C Awards, Switzerland, October 2025
►WINNER in the DNA Paris Design Awards in the “Housing” category, Farmani Group, United States, July 2025
►Finalist in the Matilde Baffa Ugo Rivolta European Award for Social Housing, Milan Chamber of Architects, Italy, September 2025
►SILVER WINNER in the AMA – Architecture Madrid Awards in the “Residential Architecture” category, CEIDA (International Design Association), Spain, September 2025
►WINNER of Batiactu’s Readers’ award in the Trophées de la Construction, Batiactu, France, September 2025
Selected Publications
►AD Architectural Digest Spain article by Marta Sader “The Spanish architect who has been reinventing social housing from Paris”, Spain, October 2025
►DIVISARE article, Italy, October 2025
►AMC article “Architecture en France 2025 - 100 Bâtiments de l’année / 100 Buildings of the Year”, France, Dec 2025 / Jan 2026
►Batiactu article by Lilas-Apollonia Fournier “Near Paris, an experimental housing project is redefining the way we live”, France, November 2025
►Libération #10762 article by Sibylle Vincendon “Logement : au fur et sur-mesure”, France, December 2015
►L’Humanité Dimanche #534 article by Pierre Duquesne “Spécial Logement. Quand l’habitat s’adapte aux habitants et non l’inverse”, France, November 2016
►El Mundo article by Luis Alemany “Adaptable Housing”, Spain, May 2025
►Il Giornale de ll’architettura article by Laura Milan “From Home to System: New Living Models Between Regeneration and Welfare”, Italy, May 2026
►Archisearch article “START-Ivry named Best Building of 2025 by Archisearch”, Greece, December 2025
►Baunetz-id article by Fabian Peters “Prepared for everything - Residential complex with flexible floor plans”, Germany, December 2025
►PRC article, Hong Kong, March 2026
►Le Moniteur #5858 article “Place au logement caméléon”, France, March 2016
►Heraldo de Aragon article “The new modular apartments designed in Paris by an architect from Zaragoza: ‘If your divorced son comes back, you can divide the house.’”, Spain, May 2025
►Infobuild article by Claudia Capperucci “START-Ivry, a new concept of social housing where the project is dictated by the households”, Italy, December 2025
►Arquitectura y diseño article by Aleks Gallardo “Architect Beatriz Ramo and the project that reinvents collective housing”, Spain, November 2025
Previous Productions & Shoots
• Intersport campaign, France, 2026 (in production)
• Netflix: Nouvelle École, season 5, France, 2026 (in production)
• Tema.archi Instagram reel, France, January 2026
